Cover the cake as normal and then roll very thin strips of gumpaste and wrap it around the cake. If you wet a tiny part at the bottom of the strip you can gently pull the top part away for the cake. I would paint the silver on after the frills are on the cake.

You don' t need to use gumpaste, you can use fondant and then it won't dry too hard. Roll a strip, use a ball tool to thin and frill one side then attach the non ruffled side to the cake with a bit of water. At the end of each strip, just angle it down a bit and the beginning of the next strip (you can use whatever you are most comfortable with but the longer the strip the better the effect) covers the join and you get a pretty seamless look. Paint the silver after it's all assembled.